Long Beach departure on the Carnival Inspiration - what time?

[Utahrd]

First off, should I ask these questions on the Carnival forum or the West Coast Departures forum?

 

I am a cheapskate, so I might drive to Long Beach from Utah. I would be in an inside cabin, so I would not have any priority boarding.

 

If the web site says that the ship leaves at 530 PM, what time should I be at the parking lot?

 

I was thinking about stopping for the night in Vegas. But if we can get on the Inspiration at 1230PM; that would mean we would have to leave pretty early. But if the earliest they will let us cheapskates board is 330 PM or something like that, that makes for a reasonable time to leave Las Vegas.

 

Maybe we should drive straight through and spend the night in Long Beach?

 

I read on another thread that the Maya Hotel has a parking/hotel deal. Any others? I would be with my kids so if it's a place with a nice pool.

[cruisead]

You must be ON the ship no later than 90 minutes before the ship departs. That means, with a 5:30 departure, you must be on board by 4pm, at the latest. Not many people follow those "appointment times" to board. We always get there by 11:30, so as to enjoy all the ship amenities on the first day.

[CruiserBruce]

The place to ask is on the Carnival board, as it is a Carnival policy/procedure issue, and their policy is fleetwide, no matter where they are sailing from. The port doesn't care what time the cruise ship does all aboard.

 

The Hotel Maya situation is commonly discussed on the West Coast Departures board, because that is where the Hotel Maya is.

Edited April 27, 2015 by CruiserBruce

[Cruisin' Chick]

Here's the problem with driving straight through...either from Utah or even from Las Vegas. You're talking about a very long drive (about 300 miles) from LV to LB. You can run into a lot of traffic. Your drive will be even longer if there's severe weather. If there's a fire near the freeway you're on. Accidents.

 

So if you run into some difficulty getting to the port on time, and end up missing the cruise, you're out a lot of money.

 

Not to mention being pooped out (even if two of you are sharing the drive). Did you want to spend your first day on board having to recover from that drive?

 

Wouldn't it be better to plan to arrive at least a day before your cruise and spend the night in LB? Then you'll be in a better state and can actually board the ship a lot sooner than 3:30 (for my last three cruises on Princess out of the Port of LA, we were told to arrive after 1 pm. We ignored that and got there by noon and were on board the ship by 1, usually).

 

Be sure to go on the Western Destinations board and search for BruinSteve's posts as he often gives a list of recommended LB hotels (there's an industrial area to avoid).

[CruiserBruce]

Western Destinations????

[Cruisin' Chick]

Western Destinations????

 

To be exact "West Coast Departures" which is the same to me as Western Destinations.

[Cuizer2]

First off, should I ask these questions on the Carnival forum or the West Coast Departures forum?

 

I am a cheapskate, so I might drive to Long Beach from Utah. I would be in an inside cabin, so I would not have any priority boarding.

 

If the web site says that the ship leaves at 530 PM, what time should I be at the parking lot?

 

I was thinking about stopping for the night in Vegas. But if we can get on the Inspiration at 1230PM; that would mean we would have to leave pretty early. But if the earliest they will let us cheapskates board is 330 PM or something like that, that makes for a reasonable time to leave Las Vegas.

 

Maybe we should drive straight through and spend the night in Long Beach?

 

I read on another thread that the Maya Hotel has a parking/hotel deal. Any others? I would be with my kids so if it's a place with a nice pool.

 

I've boarded several Carnival Ships in Long Beach ...

 

The Inspiration ...

 

 

The Paradise ...

 

 

The Pride ...

 

 

The Splendor ...

 

 

The way it works is, if you have ten or more cruises, or if you bought the FTTF (Faster To The Fun) then you board first. Everyone else gets assigned a group based on first come first served. Boarding usually begins by noon or earlier.

 

So first to board are the frequent Carnival cruisers and the FTTF people. Then group one, group two, group three ...

 

If you want to miss all of that, arrive by 2:00pm and you should be able to check in and board very quickly. If you want to be in group one, get there early (say 10:30am) and you can kill time by touring the Queen Mary, which is parked next door to the Carnival dock ...

 

[donaldsc]

You must be on board at least 90 minutes before departure or you will be standing on the dock watching the ship depart. The ships needs that time to complete their TSA security paperwork.

 

DON